November's work

I started this month with a long weekend at home (Melbourne Cup), spending time sandwiching and pinning four children's quilts.  The Happy Helper assisted me in bringing the table tennis table into the familyroom, where I could pin the quilts without crawling around on the floor.  Bliss!

My arty-farty photo of one of the quilts on the table tennis table.  

The sandwiched quilts were rolled onto a pool noodle to keep them ready for quilting.

The quilts are for four different children - one for a very good friend's second grandchild, the others for another good friend's grandchildren.  It took one full day to sandwich and pin the quilts, with pressing tops and backing for each, and ensuring the batting had been able to breathe for a few days.  It took a few hours to make binding for the quilts as well.

I started quilting one of the quilts and had problems with tension during the free motion quilting.  So frustrating!  But not with the walking foot.  So I put the machine away and will try again next week.  I do prefer a combination of walking foot and free motion quilting, especially to highlight names on quilts etc.  We've just returned from being away so I'm sure I won't get all four quilts quilted and bound during December.  Especially if my free motion quilting doesn't improve.

We were away for ten nights, with a couple of full days of train travel, so I took some small embroidery projects to do.  Our trip to Sydney on the train was great in that I got lots of sewing done as well as a good way through a book.  Then I lost my embroidery hoop! (I think at the airport hotel in Sydney but I didn't realise it until we arrived at our holiday destination.)  I had to wait until we were back in Sydney before I could buy a new hoop, ready for the train ride home.  So I didn't get all the planned hand sewing done.  :-(

I've also spent a few hours in November piecing scrap quilt blocks as a form of mindless sewing.  Some days you just need time at the sewing machine, for nothing particularly important.  

November 2024 fabric tally

Finishes in the month:   none 

Purchases in the month:    one embroidery hoop 

Fabric used:  - 0 m         Fabric acquired:  + 0 m

Running tally:  + 58 m

ScrapHappy Day 15th November 2024

Today is the day in the month when a group of (mainly) quilting bloggers share their previous month's work using only scraps.  Some months I'm only creating scraps, including this month, but I have also done some sewing with scraps.   I made two blocks using Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trips pattern, and have decided that it is easier to sew the block using six times 2 1/2"  strips rather than 36 separate pieces of fabric.  I do have quite a few 2 1/2"  pieces in my scrap drawers so will have to use them up in some sort of other scrap quilt pattern, if not this one.  

Here's all my 12"  blocks together so far.  One block was obviously sewn using a different foot, as it is smaller than the other blocks by about 1/2" .  

I've also made a few potato chip blocks this month, using my 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" pieces.  

I tend to do this sort of sewing when I just need some mindless piecing to keep my sewing mojo encouraged.  

I made five yellow blocks and put these with my other potato chip blocks.  Will be a while before I have enough for a quilt!

I'm posting this the night before the 15th.  I'll be busy all day tomorrow and don't know how to schedule publishing my blog in the future.  Sorry!

The bloggers below are all ScrapHappy Day participants, maybe not every month, but their blogs are worth looking at.  If you want to join in too, contact Kate below and have some fun with scraps.  Kate sends a reminder email each month, a few days before the 15th, so you can post about your work with scraps.      

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,

Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 

Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,

Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,

Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 

 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,

Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,

 Tierney, Hannah and Maggie

What happened in October?

Three weeks away in Uzbekistan meant I didn't get much sewing done in October, but my fabric acquisitions increased.  Some photos of the wonderful embroideries I acquired are below.  I also purchased (quite) a few metres of ikat fabrics, mainly to make clothes for myself.  The fabrics are fairly narrow lengths so I bought double what I thought I would need for a dress and a couple of tops.

Hopefully one of the suzanis I've bought will be the centre of an Uzbek inspired quilt.  These embroideries are worked on silk and are about 24" square.  I have a few other silk fabrics in my stash which hopefully will go well with one of these, and make a nice quilt to remember Uzbekistan by.  The suzanis we saw for sale varied a lot in quality and I am hoping we weren't ripped off at any stage.  Regardless, I thought they were great.  

I also purchased a quilted jacket, double sided, which fitted me.  That was a bonus. I also bought three house dresses/caftans, one in silk, the other two rayon. They are ikat patterned fabrics so will be a wonderful reminder of Uzbekistan.

 A gift from the tour company was a lightweight ikat fabric kimono-style jacket.  The woman who sewed it for me must have done it overnight, as we met her late one afternoon and then saw her the next day for lunch.  And I didn't know that I was going to receive it, so she worked off seeing my body and working out my size.  I was so appreciative of her work on my (fat) behalf.

 

Beautiful suzani wall hanging, purchased from Hakim in Namangan

     

Two cotton ikat scarves bought in Samarkand.

Two pairs of scissors bought in Bukhara.  One is engraved Maggie

This suzani is about 24" square.  I intend to use it as the centre of an Uzbek inspired quilt.  Bought from Hakim in Namangan.

Another suzani purchased from Hakim.  Couldn't resist.

Another pomegranate inspired suzani from Hakim.

Two cushion covers, bought from a local coop outside Bukhara.

Enough cotton ikat to make a tunic top or maybe a sundress.  Bought at a local market in Bukhara.  

Two silk/cotton ikat lengths, each enough for a dress or similar.  Bought at the local market in Bukhara. 

A silk ikat length for use as a scarf.  I will have to hem it.  Bought in the local market in Bukhara.

Another silk length for a scarf.  Bought in the local market in Bukhara.

Three scarves.  The pale green is pure silk, so light, and was made in a Khiva workshop initially begun by Chris Aslan.  The other two were purchased in a Samarkand market.  The burgundy scarf is shot silk and just sings.  

A suzani table runner, bought from a coop just outside Bukhara.  

October 2024 fabric tally

Finishes in the month:   none

Purchases in the month:     too many to count!  about 20m of fabrics to be used for quilts and/or dressmaking

Fabric used:  - 0 m         Fabric acquired:  + 20  m

Running tally:  + 58 m

What have I got to show for September 2024?

Not a lot, really.

Our Days for Girls group had a quilt donated, and I added the binding from my stash, so that, and a couple of DfG baby quilt backings, is the only fabric that has left my sewing room.  And I haven't bought any fabric this month, so my fabric tally hasn't changed much.  

I have had some sewing time for myself though, and am working my way through a bunch of 8 1/2" I Spy blocks for a couple of quilts for kids.  6 1/2" fabric squares bordered with 1 1/2" strips.  Not sure how many I've made so far, at least 50 I think.  Depending on the quilt layout, I would need at least thirty blocks for a quilt, and probably 40 or so to make it a decent size.

Love the owl and pussycat block. One of my favourite poems. 

Next week, I'm off to Uzbekistan on a textile tour so I may well come back with more fabric!  I love ikat fabrics.  So this year's fabric tally could look pretty bad.  (Do I care?  Not really.  😃)

September 2024 fabric tally

Finishes in the month:   binding on donation quilt = 40cm; donated baby quilt backings = 0.85m

Purchases in the month:     zip

Fabric used:  - 1.25 m         Fabric acquired:  + 0  m

Running tally:  + 38 m

Scrap Happy Day September 2024

Each month, we are reminded by Kate or Gun to post about our use of scraps in the last few weeks.  There's no obligation to post but it is a great way of reminding ourselves of what we've achieved, and of showcasing the various uses our scraps can be put to.  I prepared this post on the 14th and then completely forgot to post it yesterday.  I'm sure it is still the 15th in some parts of the world! 😃😃

Last month, I showed a photo of half-completed hand towels made from scraps.  I finished nine of them this month and will share them with my daughter.  The towelling part eventually disintegrates so needs to be replaced regularly.  Generally the top part will last a very long time.  Some I've had for at least twenty years.  The towelling is made from an old towel that was past its prime.  I used bias binding made from an old sheet to bind the towel edges and the hanging part is made from another old sheet (which I did buy from an op shop, so not really scrappy.  However, it is something being reused, so I think it counts.)  Usually, I made a buttonhole and sew on a button to close the hanging loop.  This time, I'm trialling Velcro closure.  Much quicker than making a buttonhole.  

A charity sewing group I'm part of makes menstrual health kits for women and girls in developing countries.  Although we do use most of the fabric that we have in making the kits, there is always smaller scraps leftover.  A few of us have turned these scraps, with the addition of odd pieces from our own stashes, into baby quilts.  The batting is new.  Generally the backing is brought to the front and folded to bind the quilt.  The baby quilts shown here will be going to indigenous women in Mindanao in the Philippines, so the women have something new for their babies along with their own menstrual health kits.  The photo is taken at the old railway station in our town.  No passenger trains use the line any more, so the waiting room is now a meeting room and our sewing room.  

I'll be away next month so no Scrap Happy Day post from me in October.  

The bloggers below are all ScrapHappy Day participants, maybe not every month, but their blogs are worth looking at.  Hopefully I will be using my scraps up and can post at least one block done in a month.   If you want to join in too, contact Kate below and have some fun with scraps.  Kate sends a reminder email each month, a few days before the 15th, so you can post about your work with scraps.      

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney, Hannah and Maggie

August update

Only the one finish of mine in August.  However, I've done lots of sewing for Days for Girls, so am happy with my progress on my own work.   I finished off five small baby quilts others made, quilting and binding them.  We intend to give these baby quilts to new mothers who give birth at the small hospital in the region in the Philippines that we're assisting.  It is a good way of using up the scrap fabrics that accumulate when we're making the menstrual health kits.  

Five small quilts ready for gifting.  

(Apologies for my poor attempt at an arty photo.)

I've also sewn a large number of the drawstring bags that are used to hold all the kit components.  Our group has committed to providing a certain number of kits so we're all working hard on getting them done.  So I've done all the sewing (other than overlocking) on about sixty bags in the last few weeks.  

And I completed the top for Samaira's quilt. It is ready for the quilting pile now.  

Not sure that I will get the quilting done in September.  Too much else is happening.   I'll be away for three weeks from the end of the month, so October might be relatively quiet as well, for quilt finishes.

August 2024 fabric tally

Finishes in the month:   Kaye's wallhanging -  approx. 1.5m fabric

Purchases in the month:     our local patchwork shop has a clearance sale on (the business is for sale but apparently no buyers on the horizon), so I picked up 7m at half price, mainly to use for backings or bindings.

Fabric used:  - 1.5 m         Fabric acquired:  + 7  m

Running tally:  + 39.25 m

July disappeared!

Finally another post.  We were away a lot during July and into August - Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Geelong.  And I worked in paid employment far too much, and we had our granddaughter stay for a week of the holidays.  All this to explain why I've had nothing to show for so long.  

The wallhanging for my friend was finally finished.  I could have kept on embellishing it, but was putting off the inevitable handover.  It is always tricky to hand over something you've spent so much time and effort on; hoping that the recipient will love it like you do, not see the flaws in it, and not hide it away in a back bedroom.  It finished about 44" wide by 22" deep.  It grew around the five batik elephant squares.  I used foundation paper piecing for some blocks and filled in "organically" with more patchwork cotton batik pieces.  It is embellished with big stitch quilting, as well as buttons and beads.  I had intended facing it rather than binding it, but I wimped out of that as I've never done it before and didn't want to stuff it up. 

And here's the wallhanging in my girlfriend's loungeroom. 

I've been working on finishing the top of Mason's quilt this week also.  When I finished the "confetti" part of the quilt, I realised that it was a little short.  Rummaging through my stash, I found a Laurel Burch border print which seemed to tie in with the main quilt blocks.  I added a strip at each end of the top and then realised that it was too wide and overpowered the other blocks.  So I cut each strip in half and, I think, it seems to work better.  What do you think?